I never understood something about that losers thing. If anything, France was known for having the strongest army by World War I, and by being a Great Military Power.
Dark Ages:
-Let's start at the dawn of France itself. The Franks. What about a Merovingian expansion, where the
Frankish king "Charles the Great" managed to become Holy Roman Emperor, who conquered half of Italy, Catalonia, Bohemia, Poland, etc.? Were not those victories?
-What about the victories over the Arabs, which spared France (And most probably other parts of Europe) from falling to the Muslims?
Middle Ages:
-What about the Norman (French) conquest of England, actually initiating the first major dynastical house of England?
-What about the Norman conquests in Sicily and lower Italy?
-What about the victory at the HYW (I never understood why they say Jean d'Arc isn't French She was born, raised and died in France. Supposedly speaking to angels, doesn't make her un-french, nor does it question the might and valor of French soldiers.)?
Renaissance:
-What about the Thirty Years War, where French and Swedish armies sucessively defeated Imperial German armies, allowing for freedom of the Protestants German States. And making France an undisputed power in Europe for centuries?
-What about Louis XIV's expansion in France and surroundings, which ultimatly led to a formation of several coalitions to stop his expansion?
Revolutionary France:
-What about the First Coalition War? Where a war-torn revolutionary France, invaded by all the European powers, manages to defeat them all, and even advance into foreign territory?
Victorian Age:
-What about the victory over the Austrians which unfolded the Unification of Italy?
-What about the victories over the Ottomans in the Crimean Wars?
I could go on, but then again I suppose my point has been made, and heck, I'm not even French. I just don't get it why it spread about that the French never won a war...
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